Joe Biden and Nikki Haley won the presidential preference contest in Harvard’s presidential primary this past Tuesday for the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively.
Biden dominated the Democratic ballot, receiving 853 votes out of 1,003 ballots cast. The Republican race was slightly more competitive, with Nikki Haley receiving 454 votes out of 769 Republican ballots cast. Donald Trump received 275 votes, finishing in second place.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday morning that Haley won in 68 of Massachusetts’ 351 towns. Twenty-four towns, including Harvard, had yet to report their final results. Statewide, however, Trump dominated with 323,627 votes (60.1%) to Haley’s 197,268 votes (36.6%)
Just 940 voters came in person to the polls on Tuesday, with 842 Harvard residents voting through other methods, such as early voting in Town Hall, or absentee ballot or mail-in ballot, for a total turnout of 1,782 out of 4,719 registered voters in Harvard. It was roughly a 38% turnout, a decline from the 2020 presidential primary, which had a 55% turnout with 2,415 ballots cast.
Write-in votes were still being counted Wednesday morning, so not all of the committee races were determined in time for this week’s print edition. Dorothy Bisson, chairwoman of the Sudbury Republican Town Committee, was challenging Caroline Cunningham for Republican state committeewoman in a longshot write-in campaign. Cunningham received 361 votes, and 92 write-in votes were cast. While those write-in votes were still being counted, it is safe to say that Cunningham secured the seat for state committeewoman.
All other state committee candidates were running unopposed. James Eldridge and Kara Le Treize will be elected to the Democratic state committee, and Dave H. Lunger will be elected to the Republican state committee.
Twenty-one volunteer poll workers staffed the primary in the Bromfield School cafeteria, where voting was held on Tuesday. Voters were checked in electronically using Poll Pads. There were 10 voting booths and two ballot-counting machines, one for in-person voters and one for mail-in ballots.
Trump and Biden convincingly won the Massachusetts statewide primary for their respective parties. Haley dropped out of the Republican race after winning only Vermont on Super Tuesday, guaranteeing Trump the Republican nomination. Haley declined to endorse Trump in a speech she gave in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday morning, according to the Associated Press.
